{"id":2201659,"date":"2023-07-11T17:30:38","date_gmt":"2023-07-11T08:30:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/?p=2201659"},"modified":"2023-11-20T17:49:47","modified_gmt":"2023-11-20T08:49:47","slug":"south-koreas-tech-paradox-how-local-constraints-thwart-its-global-ambitions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2023\/07\/south-koreas-tech-paradox-how-local-constraints-thwart-its-global-ambitions\/","title":{"rendered":"South Korea\u2019s tech paradox: How local constraints thwart its global ambitions"},"content":{"rendered":"
While President Yoon Suk-yeol aspires for South Korea to become a \u201cglobal pivotal state,\u201d the country lags significantly behind in navigation and location-based technology, posing a surprising and inconvenient reality for tourists and tech companies alike.<\/span><\/p>\n Each year, a growing number of tourists are taken aback by the difficulty of utilizing popular services like Google Maps and Apple Maps for navigation within the country. The challenge has endured for years, all under the pretext of \u201cnational security.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n These constraints aren\u2019t a recent phenomenon. Google has been contending with South Korean authorities for <\/span>over a decade<\/span><\/a> for permission to utilize the high-resolution map data that domestic providers can access. Likewise, Apple recently lost a bid to leverage the same data, again on <\/span>national security grounds<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n As technology advances and app services evolve, the breadth of location-driven products and services impacted by these restrictions broadens. Yet the contributing factors stem from specific South Korean legislation, not necessarily the global tech landscape.<\/span><\/p>\n For instance, the Apple AirTag, designed to track items that owners frequently misplace, faces <\/span>limited restrictions<\/span><\/a> in approximately a dozen countries. South Korea appears to be the only country where AirTag functionality is fully disabled. However, Samsung\u2019s Galaxy Tag, which offers a similar service, is fully functional.<\/span><\/p>\n Local legislation<\/span><\/a> is at the heart of the disputes concerning maps and navigation. South Korean laws that restrict the export of high-resolution map data and mandate the obfuscation of military-related locations directly conflict with Google and Apple\u2019s server arrangements and map-related policies.<\/span><\/p>\n But experts doubt that South Korean national security concerns justify impeding the functionality of apps and systems that have become global standards.<\/span><\/p>\n IS IT REALLY ABOUT SECURITY?<\/b><\/p>\n The impasse between international tech giants and South Korean authorities lies in two pieces of national legislation.<\/span><\/p>\n The first is the <\/span>Act on the Establishment and Management of Spatial Data<\/span><\/a>, which mandates that South Korean map data cannot be taken \u201cabroad\u201d without prior approval from the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLINT). This regulation poses a significant challenge for international tech companies like Google and Apple, which typically process map data in overseas data centers.<\/span><\/p>\n The same act further stipulates that published data should exclude any \u201cmatters … that are likely to inflict harm to national security.\u201d This statute is closely related to the second law, the <\/span>Promotion of Military Bases and Installations Act<\/span><\/a>. This legislation details which military installations should be omitted from maps, requiring tech companies like Google and Apple to censor maps and satellite imagery of many sites within South Korea.<\/span><\/p>\n Given these stipulations, MOLINT denied <\/span>Google\u2019s latest request<\/span><\/a> in 2016 to process ROK map data abroad. Apple also faced rejection for a similar request in <\/span>March<\/span><\/a>. Consequently, due to their dependence on much lower resolution international grade map data, both companies can only offer users in South Korea a significantly stripped-down version of map and navigation functionality.<\/span><\/p>\n When asked about its stance on rejecting Apple and Google\u2019s requests, MOLINT told <\/span>Korea Pro<\/span><\/i> it had concerns over these providers\u2019 ability to guarantee the security of its map data.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAfter collecting opinions from relevant ministries and conducting a security review, the export was denied due to concerns over national security threats and leakage issues related to overseas servers,\u201d MOLINT told <\/span>Korea Pro<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n MOLINT also confirmed that it had previously blocked Google from exporting high-resolution map data for similar national security reasons. It also noted that the U.S. firm had not submitted a new request since Nov. 2016.<\/span><\/p>\n However, high-resolution maps, traffic and navigation data are readily accessible through Korean apps.<\/span><\/p>\n While South Korean apps might adhere to regulations requiring them to obfuscate sensitive military sites, an ironic twist emerges: Google and Apple publish high-resolution satellite imagery of South Korea from overseas servers that could reveal those exact locations and coordinates to an informed adversary. Even so, they aren\u2019t allowed to leverage this satellite imagery to provide their map-based navigation.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c[There is] no security benefit whatsoever,\u201d Kim Kee-chang, a law professor at Korea University, told <\/span>Korea Pro<\/span><\/i>. \u201cThis is a very bogus rationale.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n